Obama would accept some offshore drilling

Sunday

Aug 3, 2008 at 12:42 AMAug 3, 2008 at 5:12 AM

By MICHAEL POWELLThe New York Times

Sen. Barack Obama said on Saturday that he would reluctantly consider accepting some new offshore oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico in exchange for stripping oil companies of tax breaks and extending several tax credits to spur the search for alternative fuels.At the same time, Senate Republicans appear to have dropped their insistence on opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to drilling.Obama has until now opposed any new offshore drilling. But in a wide-ranging news conference in Central Florida on Saturday morning, he noted that there have been "very constructive" talks in recent days, and he applauded an $84 billion plan unveiled by a group of Republican and Democratic senators to permit such drilling while supporting an effort to convert most vehicles to using alternative fuels in the next 20 years. The proposed bill would strip oil companies of $30 billion in tax breaks, renew tax breaks for solar and wind power, and give consumers a tax credit to buy electric or fuel-cell cars."If we come up with a genuine bipartisan compromise, where I have to accept some things that I don't like in order to get energy independence, that's something I will have to consider," Obama said.Still, he cautioned that he is not yet "ready to sign off on any approach."The candidate, who has been campaigning hard in the crucial swing state of Florida the past two days, faces a delicate calculus with this issue. State legislators are angry that the bill would take the decision on drilling out of their hands. And both of Florida's U.S. senators have vowed to fight it, saying the proposed bill would erode protections the state negotiated two years ago when it agreed to allow more drilling.Responding to Obama's shift, the campaign of Sen. John McCain, his Republican opponent, who favors an aggressive expansion of offshore drilling on every coast, quickly accused the Democrat of flip-flopping.The issue speaks to the problem faced by senators who run for president: Legislative bodies are built on compromise."What I am interested in, ultimately, is governing," Obama said. "I also recognize that in the House and the Senate there are Republicans who have very clear ideas about what they want."Are we going to keep arguing or get things done?" he added.